In the art of portable vacuum cleaning apparatus, particularly of the so-called wet/dry type, various efforts have been undertaken to provide a powerhead housing construction which provides suitable separate air flowpaths for the exhaust flow of the vacuum cleaner working air and for routing cooling air to and away from the electric motor which drives the working air impeller. Important considerations in the development of portable vacuum cleaners, particularly of the wet/dry type, are the provision of housing assemblies which are lightweight, and easily fabricated with a reduced number of working parts, but which also provide for suitably supporting the electric motor which drives the impeller for the vacuum cleaner working air. In addition to the above-mentioned requirements and desiderata, separate flowpaths for the working air exhaust flow and motor cooling air are required through the housing and wherein, in particular, the cooling air inlet is not located in such a position as to ingest working air exhaust flow. A further requirement which must be met is to minimize flow resistance for the working air and cooling air through the housing and, importantly, reduce audible acoustic emissions from the motor, the working air impeller, the motor cooling fan and the air flow generated by these mechanisms. Several efforts have been undertaken in the prior art to meet the desiderata and requirements mentioned herein. However, prior art efforts have, for the most part, resulted in relatively complex housing assemblies or, in the interest of reducing the complexity of the housing construction, certain of the desiderata mentioned herein have been sacrificed.